Dream Theater
The Astonishing

For a band that for about 12 years has regularly divided its fans due to excessive technique and pompousness and is even labeled by several people as “a band that has been continuously releasing albums with a regular biennial cadence without, however, having new ideas,” announcing a double concept album is extremely risky. However, it turns out that most of the fans were optimistic, seeing the concept album as a chance to finally produce something tangible after years of recycling and anonymity.

And so here we are discussing Dream Theater's most ambitious work, “The Astonishing,” based on the clash between the Great Northern Empire led by Emperor Nafaryus, who wants to control and subjugate the population, and the Ravenskill Rebel Militia from the city of Ravenskill itself, who want to rebel against the empire. A story similar to that told in the famous suite “2112” by Rush. It seems that the topic of “control and manipulation” of populations is quite trendy in the world today. Just think that last year Muse addressed it in their album “Drones.” Probably, thanks to the global crisis possibly created by the powerful to subjugate the population to their advantage (who knows what the truth is…), thanks to meritocracy being challenged by the music business, the ever-increasing use of drones for control and more, the idea is being reassessed (also thanks to dedicated Facebook pages and television debates) of a population not free to think and continuously conditioned by those who want to profit at their expense…

But let's move on to discuss the most important aspect of an album, which is the musical one. In 2016, Dream Theater rediscovered their wonderfully symphonic side. In “The Astonishing,” melody prevails over everything else, with few metal tracks and little space given to virtuosity, the same virtuosity that probably tired many fans; long tracks are gone (the longest exceeds 7 minutes but never reaches 8), here balads and generally soft tracks prevail. Dream Theater decided to enlist an orchestra and some choral groups to dive headlong into symphonic and orchestral music. “Symphonic rock” is definitely the most appropriate expression to attach to the overall sound of the album. Some forays into symphonic territory had already been attempted in the past: think of the suite “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence,” where the intro and various parts were reproduced by Rudess's keyboards, the use of a real orchestra already in tracks like “Sacrificed Sons” and the final section of “Octavarium,” and the string ensemble used in the previous album in “False Awakening Suite” and the central part of “Illumination Theory”; now, however, the band aims to delve into this side like never before. The overtures of the two discs are the most obvious examples. But even on the level of individual instrumentalists, the intention to aim for something softer seems clear: Jordan Rudess does not want to exaggerate in using his much-loathed effects and virtuosities and favors a more pianistic vein, just as John Petrucci plays with a decidedly more rock than metal approach and increases the acoustic inserts. The result is an album that is unparalleled in the group’s discography and thus after many years truly gives new energy to the band's sound.

But this more than ever reinforced symphonic vein is not the only thing refreshing the band's offering; scattered throughout the album there are indeed numerous little things that are certainly not customary in the Dream Theater sound. The swing-metal of tracks like “Lord Nafaryus” and “Three Days” comes to mind immediately, with arrangements that could recall the Diablo Swing Orchestra (especially the final coda of the second) and some things done by A.C.T; the first even has a brief tango-style fragment. Also notable is the imperial march that introduces “Brother, Can You Hear Me?". “A Life Left Behind” instead stands out for its acoustic fugue in a very Yes style (it reminded me a lot of “Tempus Fugit”), before the track takes on the shape of a dignified ballad. Quite unusual for Dream Theater is also the initial part of “Ravenskill” with that very delicate piano and that equally soft voice that could even recall Sylvan and that flowing brook effect that once again refers to Rush's “2112” or “Natural Science” (pity the piece then loses its way a bit). To be honest, we all somewhat jumped out of our chairs when we heard the final bagpipe of “The X Aspect.” And I could add more... and I will! For example, the mellotron insert in “The Road to Revolution” which directly refers to the late '60s proto-prog; but also that vaguely '80s electric piano sound that elegantly accompanies “Losing Faythe”; and what about “Hymn of a Thousand Voices,” a folk-Celtic flavored track that no one would have ever expected from Dream Theater. The most indecipherable and therefore fascinating track, however, is “Our New World”: “a lively and unclassifiable rock track,” that’s how I’d define it! Lively because it has a unique drive and a bright and “summer-like” melody, almost like the typical convertible and arm-outside track, unclassifiable because you really can't give it a precise label, it's not metal, it's not hard rock, it's not indie, it's not alternative, it's not grunge… how to classify it? The fascination of the unclassifiable and the mysterious at its highest!

We must not forget the short instrumentals representing the Nomacs, the machines designed to control the population; brief electronic-computerized interludes that further demonstrate the group’s desire for renewal.

However, there are also a small handful of tracks in the most classic Dream Theater progressive metal style where the metal component returns powerfully as well as the bursts of virtuosity: “Moment of Betrayal” is the most obvious example, then there’s “The Path That Divides” which with its distorted organ accompaniments strongly echoes the sharp and dark sound of “Awake.”

The flaws are still present, which is also normal for an album composed of no less than 34 tracks; there are some filler songs that don't seem to have much to say (“A Better Life,” “A Savior in the Square,” and “A Tempting Offer”) and some solutions seem repeated a bit too endlessly (those powerful and choral epic-flavored choruses become tiresome in the long run) while others more ingenious deserved to be explored further (the usual habit of daring with the handbrake on a tad too tight, but fortunately here there are quite a few particular ideas). Then there's also the disappointing performance of John Myung, who after his remarkable performance in “Dream Theater” is really barely audible here and limits himself to a bland accompaniment; once again excellent is the performance of drummer Mike Mangini, who once again offers interesting surprise shots, as well as that of the much-maligned James LaBrie, whose vocal performance proves instead diverse, functional, and effective. In any case, we can safely say that the risk truly paid off.

The verdict is that we find ourselves in front of the freshest and most inspired album even since “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.” Despite my fanboyism towards Dream Theater, whenever I could I have tried to also be objective; I have indeed often admitted that the band showed a great willingness to reinvent themselves and present with a new face continuously up to “Train of Thought” included, and that after that they had a certain tendency to recycle; but at the same time, I do not hide that according to me, there was something new and interesting even in the subsequent albums and that they nevertheless maintained the tendency to change approach with each album.

In any case, if in these last ten years I have somehow understood the criticisms towards Dream Theater (although not fully agreeing with them) I do not believe I will be able to understand those towards this album. You wanted less virtuosity? Achieved! You wanted more melody? Here it is! You wanted fewer extreme heavy influences? Obliterated! And above all, did you want new ideas? A breath of fresh air? Here are quite a few. All elements of accusation have fallen, what more did you want?

I'm sorry dear old critics but I think if you really can’t even slightly appreciate this work and find any sense in it and if you truly consider it yet another disappointing work, you seriously need to consider the hypothesis of having an idiosyncrasy towards Dream Theater.